Arch support



Feb. 9 1926.

1,572,162 w. M. SCHOLL ARCH SUPPORT Filed DEQ. 1, 1924 VEEEIEJ PatentedFeb. 9, 1926.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM M. SCHOLL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ARCH SUPPORT Application filed December 1, 1924. Serial No. 753,329.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM M, SCHOLL, a citizen of the United States,and aresident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and Stateof. Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in anArch Support; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact-description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and tothe numerals of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to ,arch supports.

One of the objects of the invention is to make an arch support that iseffective and of light weight. I 1

Another object is to'make an arch support for the inner longitudinalarchofv the foot which may be held in place by an elastic band extendingaround the foot.

Another object is to provide an arch support for the inner longitudinalarch of the foot having an elastic'band to yieldingly contract the footabout the support.

Another object is to provide a support for the inner longitudinal archof the foot which may be made to extend to both longitudinal arches ofthe foot by inserting pads in a pocket of the support. 7

Another objectis the provision of means for holding the pads in thepocket.

Other objects, advantages and benefits arising from the invention willreadily appear to persons skilled in the art from a consideration of thefollowing description when taken in conjunction with the drawings,wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevation of one of the devices intended to be worn onthe right foot.

Figure 2 is an elevation of the same device looking at the opposite sidethereof.

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken on line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4: is a bottom plan view with parts removed, as indicated on line4:1 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a plan view of a pad for insertion in the pocket of thedevice.

In all of the views the same reference characters are employed toindicate similar parts.

In the orthopmdic treatment of the feet,

and especially for the fallen arches of the feet, it is quite essentialthat the support for uplifting, restoring and retaining the arch side ofthe foot.

in its natural position should be light of weight, easy fitting, andshould have no unnecessary parts to encumben its use.

In the device exemplified in the drawings, every part thereof is more orless flexible, and yet sufficiently stable and rigid to yieldingly holdthe misplaced parts of the foot in their normal, natural positions.

In the drawings, 10 is. a leather plate having a curved outline 11 onone side and a more or less sinuous curve 12 on the other side, as shownmore clearly in Figure A in plan View. The lower flexible or yieldingplate 13 is preferably semi-circular in form, having substantially theoutline ofthepads to be inserted therein one of which is shown at 15 inFigure 5.

The two plates 10 and 13 gether between 16 and 17 on one side andbetween 18 and 19 on the other side, leaving the space between 17 and18on the side 12 open for the purpose of providing a pad re cei-vingpocket normally closed by the elastic band 20. The band is stitchedtogether at its ends 21 by a seam 22 so that both sides of the band arein substantially the same plane. The band is then stitched to the plate10 through the center of the seam. This leaves the entire length of theband 20 free to expand and contract without any restriction whatever.The plates 10 and 13 are not stitched together between the points 19 and16, thus leaving an opening 25 therebetween, more clearly shown inFigure 2, through which the band passes.

To place the device in position on the foot, the foot is. insertedthrough the band until the device described is a little back of thelongitudinal median locality of the foot. The upper curved head 26 ofthe plate 10 extends well up around the curved inner The pads 15 to beinserted in the pockets of the support are preferably semi-circular inplan outline, being tapered radially from are stitched tothe center ofthe straight line 28 to its peripheral line so that the outer portion ofthe pad isthicker than the inner portion, that is to say the part thatlies under the highest portion of the inner longitudinal arch is thickerthan the part that extends under the foot and is immediately under theouter longitudinal arch.

The pads may be held in place in the pocket by means of a thin narrowmetal strip 27 which may be extended under the upper leather plate 10and above the plate 13. The strip 27 has very little, it" any,resiliency, and therefore it will remain in the shape in which it isplaced after the pads have been inserted in the pocket. Because of thefact that it is thin, it will not be felt by the foot which is incontact with the plate 10.

\Vhen it is desirable to take out the pads 15, the strip 27 may beopened and the pads removed or additional pads may be placed in thepocket and the strip replaced. The strip is of such a character that itmay be bent man 1 times without bein broken.

lVhile I have herein shown a single embodiment of my invention for thepurpose of clear disclosure, it will he manifestto a person skilled inthe art that considerable change in the configuration and arrange mentof parts is permissible within the scope of the appended claims.

Having" described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secureby Letters Patent is:

1. An arch support for the inner longitudinal arch of the footcomprising an elastic band to extend around the foot, a yielda ble platewithin the band, and to which the band is attached, transversely curvedso that one longitudinal edge will lie'in a substantially horizontalplane and the other edge will extend upwardly toward the top of thetransverse curve of said arch; and another similar plate, substantiallysemi-circular in plan attached at its curved edges, outside of the band,to the other plate to form a laterally opening pocket between the plateswithin which to insert pads.

2. A foot corrective appliance comprising an elastic band to extendaround the mid-portion of the foot; an arch support for application tothe'inner longitudinal arch of the foot attached to said band, saidsupport comprising apair of yieldable plates connected together neartheir ends, open at one side for the band to pass throughand be tweenthe plates and open-at the other side for admitting a pad between theplates, and a substantially semi-circular arch supporting pad forinsertion between said plates.

3. A foot corrective appliance comprising twoyieldable plate membersconnected together near their ends and open between their side edges-toform a pocket, a yieldable'band extending through said pocket betweenthe plates, and stitched to the upper plate by a seam extendingtransversely of the band and longitudinally of the plate and near themid-portion of one of said plates, and a padfor insertion in said pocketbetween the plates.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name. \VILLIAM M.SGHOLL.

